From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
Wilson, George Washington, Jr.
(born: April 10, 1925)George Washington Wilson, Jr. was a professional boxer from Louisville, KY. He competed in the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions from 1947-1954. Of his 29 bouts, he won 10 with two KOs, lost 16 with 11 KOs, and had three ties [source: BoxRec: George Wilson]. His boxing career started May 12, 1947 at the Jefferson County Armory in Louisville in a fight against Sol Lewis. Wilson won. His career ended with a win over Bob O'Bannon at the Owensboro Sports Center in Owensboro, KY, November 24, 1954.
Wilson had been a truck driver before becoming a boxer, according to his 1952 boxer's license application for the state of Wisconsin [source: application in Ancestry]. He weighed in at 188 pounds. His manager was Tom Leeper from Indianapolis, IN. Only two fights were listed on the back of the application form, the ones with opponents Lou Woods and Jesse McGowan. He actually had 13 other fights at that point. He lost the fight with Lou Woods on a TKO, August 2, 1950 in Music Hall in Detroit, MI. He won the fight with Jesse McGowan on a TKO at the Jefferson County Armory on November 15, 1952. The fight with Jesse McGowan was his most recent fight before he applied for the boxing license in Wisconsin. The license request was in preparation for his fight with Wilbur Dilly, which Wilson lost on a TKO in the Auditorium in Milwaukee on December 29, 1952.
In 1954, George W. Wilson, Jr. fought Billy Hester for the USA Kentucky Middleweight Title. Wilson lost a 12-round decision to Hester. The fight took place at the Labor Temple in Louisville on September 3, 1954. [See also Billy Hester in the Afro-American Encyclopedia, 1974, vol. 4, p. 1189.]
George Washington Wilson, Jr.'s full name comes from his 1943 WWII Draft Registration card [source: Ancestry]. At the time, he stood 5'11" and weighed 171 pounds. He lived at 602 1/2 S. 9th Street in Louisville.